Académique Documents
Professionnel Documents
Culture Documents
Developing a Protocol for a Systematic Review Using the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI)
Method
The New Jersey Centre for Evidenced Based Healthcare and Patient-Outcomes Research
Important Points
1. A systematic review proposal serves as a map for the review. Transparency is important. The
objective in writing a proposal for a systematic review is to clearly and succinctly describe
what you want to do, why it is important that the review be done, what methods will be used
to conduct the review and how the findings of the review might be utilized.
2. The review must be written in English (AU) and in Vancouver format. This guideline is
written in English (AU).
3. The body of the proposal for a systematic review should abut 10-15 pages of single spaced
text.
4. If the review is undertaken as a doctoral study project, at least one of the reviewers must be a
faculty member, and the faculty member must be trained in the JBI method of systematic
review.
5. If the review is other than a doctoral study project, either the primary or secondary reviewer
must be trained in the JBI method of systematic review.
6. Expect to spend at least 8-12 months completing the review.
7. Use of the CReMS proposal development software provides pre-specified language with a
fill in the blanks option to customize the review.
8. Always read one or two proposals on the JBI website before starting to write your own to get
a feel for the flow and wording of the JBI method.
Page 1 of 10
The key components of a systematic review proposal are:
1. Title
2. Reviewers
4. Objective
5. Background
Types of Studies
Types of Outcomes
7. Search Strategy
Critical Appraisal
Page 2 of 10
Title of Systematic Review Protocol
The title of the protocol should precisely describe the review to be undertaken. It should
not be more than ten-twenty words. One simple sentence that includes the aims and outcomes of
the study should suffice. The formal title of the review should be written after the aims and
objectives of the review are finalized to ensure congruency. To be a comprehensive review, the
Title examples:
Reviewers
At a minimum, a primary and secondary reviewer should be identified. At least one of the
reviewers must be trained in the JBI method of systematic review. Reviewers work
independently of each other. The primary reviewer is responsible for the overall conduct of the
review and for keeping reviewers on track and moving toward completion of the review. Both
reviewers should have a good understanding of research design and the ability to critique
research studies. Identifying a third reviewer at the beginning of the review in the event there is
disagreement between the primary and secondary reviewer. The third reviewer will assist in
resolving any differences. If the review is a doctoral study project, the faculty member will
Page 3 of 10
Beginning and Ending Dates
An attempt should be made to identify the dates when the review will begin and the
anticipated date of completion. Determining these dates before the review begins can assist in
keeping the project on track. Most reviews require 8-12 months for completion.
Background
The background should describe the issue under review in sufficient detail so that the
necessity for conducting the review is clear and unambiguous. It should lay a broad base for the
issue that led to the review. A description of the target population, the interventions or
phenomenon to be reviewed, and the potential uses of the findings should be presented. Use of
statistics can aid in understanding the significance of the review. The background should indicate
why the review is necessary and its contribution to health care. The background provides the
foundation for development of the review objectives and aims. Questions that need to be
Why is it necessary to review and pool studies on this topic? Why is this work important?
How will this build on published literature, inform practice, and/ or formulate policy?
Objectives
The review objectives are grounded in the review question and provide the basis for development
of the inclusion criteria. The rationale for the objectives should be found in the
Page 4 of 10
background. Review objectives are written in measurable terms and need to address the target
population, intervention or phenomenon and outcomes. An overall objective for the review is
provided first, followed by sub-objectives, as appropriate. Some questions to ask as the proposal
Does the overall objective clearly describe the reviews purpose and direction?
Are the objectives realistic and feasible in relation to the completion date selected?
Inclusion criteria
Systematic reviews are distinguished by the transparency with which they are conducted.
One of the features that allow this transparency is the pre-specification of the reviews inclusion
and exclusion criteria, that is, those criteria that make a study eligible for inclusion in the review.
Eligibility criteria include parts of the review question and the types of studies that will be
sought. The types of participants, types of interventions or phenomenon of interest, and the types
of outcomes expected are addressed in the eligibility criteria for the review.
Types of studies
This section describes the type of studies that will be considered for review. Always start
The systematic review will consider randomized controlled trials that investigated..
OR
This systematic review will consider studies using a qualitative design, such as
phenomenology, grounded theory, narrative review.. In those instances where the reviewer
Page 5 of 10
believes that it might be difficult to find the preferred study, the type of study or other literature that
Types of Participants
Participants in a systematic review refer to the subjects used in the primary studies that will
be included in the review. Criteria for selection of these participants must be very clear and specific
as key words for searching are developed using these criteria. Participants should be defined in three
ways. First, the disease or condition of interest, such as urinary tract infection, breast cancer or type 2
diabetes should be specified. Second, the population of interest must be described in as few words as
possible. This step involves deciding on the characteristics or attributes of the population, such as
age, race, ethnicity, and educational level. Finally, the type of setting, such as acute care hospital,
community mental health center, and ambulatory surgery is described. For example, in a study of the
Adults 18 years of age, who underwent any type of surgery will be included. Patients who
were subject to deliberate hypothermia such as those for cardiac or neurosurgical interventions were
excluded.
In this example, the condition of interest is hypothermia, the population of interest is any
proposal is for a review of interventions, the primary and comparison interventions need to be fully
made regarding the comparisons, for example, a placebo, another intervention, nothing or
Page 6 of 10
usual care. Observational systematic reviews (such as those about risk factors) and qualitative
Types of Outcomes
Explicit criteria for establishing the presence of appropriate outcomes and if necessary, their
combinations must be specified. The background should provide enough information to justify the
outcomes included and potentially those that were not included. Each outcome should be described
and the way in which it was measured should be provided. For example:
Length of stay, which will be inclusive of day of admission to day of discharge, will be
measured in days.
The search for articles and papers to be included in the review can be compared to enrolling
patients into a primary research study. The articles selected as a result of the search process are, in
essence, the subjects for the review. Keywords and phrases provide the foundation for searching, and
are derived from the review question. The search includes both published and unpublished work.
A concept map is useful in expanding on key words. For example, the phrase critical care can
be mapped to include intensive care, intensive care unit, critical care unit, or ICU as well as
identified by specialty area, for example, coronary care unit, pediatric intensive care unit, and
surgical intensive care unit. By mapping each of the key words and phrases, a more comprehensive
search can be conducted. The phases of the search strategy should be very detailed including the
The search should be described in stages. Stage 1 is the first attempt at the search in
which the reviewers use a limited set of key words to find potentially relevant studies. These
Page 7 of 10
studies are reviewed in an effort to expand key words and phrases for a more in-depth search. At
a minimum, Medline, CINHAL, and the Virginia Henderson Library of Sigma Theta Tau
International should be searched during this first stage. As well, attempts should be made to
determine if a systematic review already exists on the topic of interest. This is accomplished by
searching the Cochrane, Campbell, and Joanna Briggs Institute databases. If a review is found
that matches the one under consideration, a decision needs to be made to forego the review or
expand on it in some manner. For example, years can be extended, databases can be added, or a
Stage 2 expands the databases used and searches these using the full list of key words
developed in Stage 1.
Stage 3 involves searching the reference lists of identified articles for any relevant
references and hand searching appropriate journals. As well, an author search should be
conducted on the names of authors known to have conducted research on the review objective.
A list of all databases and grey literature and the full list of key words used in the search
should be provided. The timeframe for searching each database must be included. If a decision is
made not to search the entire database (i.e., from inception) and a narrower timeframe is used,
Databases to search:
Otherinclude those databases that have relevance to your review objective, e.g.,
PsyINFO, ERIC
Page 8 of 10
3. Grey Literature: Virginia Henderson Library, MEDNAR (which includes Google
A description of how the quality of each paper will be determined is necessary for the
proposal. The appropriate JBI critical appraisal tool should be used. A pre-review determination
Data extraction
A description of how data will be extracted and managed must also be included. The data
extraction tool to be used should be included in the appendices. The appropriate JBI data
Data synthesis
References
Acknowledgements
If you received help in developing the proposal from anyone, it should be acknowledged
here. If the proposal is for a doctoral project, the project committee should be acknowledged
here.
Page 9 of 10
Appendices
Include all of the JBI critical appraisal tools and data extraction tools to be used.
Page 10 of 10